A 26-year-old man with a one-year history of asthma and sinusitis presented with bilateral pleural effusions, patch basilar infiltrates on a chest x-ray and a pericardial effusion on an echocardiogram. The peripheral blood showed marked eosinophilia. An obstructive pattern was also observed during the pulmonary fuction test, which was responsive to bronchodilator inhalation. Nerve conduction studies showed right sural neuropathy. Thoracentesis yielded an acidotic exudative effusion with low glucose, low C3 and eosinophilia. An open lung biopsy revealed an eosinophilic interstitial pneumonitis associated with a necrotizing eosinophilic vasculitis, and granulomatous inflammation foci. In the literature, pleural effusions were reported in 29 percent of Churg-Strauss patients, but the number of effusions was low and their characteristics have not been well described. This report describes the characteristic findings of pleural fluid and its histologic features in a case of classical Churg-Strauss syndrome.
Adult ; Asthma ; Biopsy ; Churg-Strauss Syndrome* ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Glucose ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Inhalation ; Lung ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; Neural Conduction ; Pericardial Effusion ; Pleural Effusion* ; Sinusitis ; Thorax ; Vasculitis

No abstract available.
Fallopian Tubes* ; Female

BACKGROUND: The skin changes of X-linked recessive ichthyosis are cnused by the deficiency of the enzyme steroid sulfatase, which usually results from deletions of this gene in Caucasian populations. OBJECTIVE AND MEHTODS: To disgnose X-linked recessive ichthyosis and detect its carrier, we have investigated distinctive gene deletion and measured gene dosage of steroid sulfatase gene by southern blot hybridization in Korean patients with X-linked recessive ichthyosis. RESULTS: Patients from 8 of 9 unrelated families exhibited deletions, if the steroid sulfatase gene. Of 6 families showing a family history compatible with X-linked recessive inheritance, One family exhibited a normal pattern of hybridization. All but one family showed deletion of steroid sulfatase gene. All three patients lacking a fami1y history of the disease exhibited gene deletions. The ratio of the steroid sulfatsse specific band density to the Factor VIII specific band density was measured in 8 obligate carriers using a laser densitometer. The average ratio exhibited by the car riers was less than half that of normal women. Conclusian: These results suggest that the X-linked recessive ichth osis patient and its carrier can also be diagnosed and detected by Southern blot hybridization of steroid sulfatase gene in Korea.
Blotting, Southern* ; Diagnosis* ; Factor VIII ; Female ; Gene Deletion ; Gene Dosage ; Humans ; Ichthyosis* ; Korea ; Skin ; Steryl-Sulfatase ; Wills

Bisphosphonate is used widely for osteoporosis management. On the other hand, some studies have reported that prolonged use of bisphosphonate without a proper resting period can cause insufficiency fracture and, in rare cases, fractures on the femur neck. This paper reports a case of an elderly patient who suffered bilateral femur neck insufficiency fractures induced by non-stopped long-term bisphosphonate therapy. The patient complained of pain in her buttocks at the first visit. During the admission period, inguinal area pain newly developed. Both a femur neck insufficiency fracture was observed on the hip radiographic image. Hip pinning and postoperative parathyroid hormone treatment were performed. The patient was discharged without specific complications and reported improvement in symptoms on the last follow-up. Several authors have reported one-sided femoral neck insufficiency fractures due to bisphosphonate use, but the present case is uncommon in that it occurred simultaneously in both femur necks. In addition, in the case of bilateral femur fractures, the walking ability after surgery is lower than that of one-sided fracture cases, so active rehabilitation is necessary.

Celosia cristata , belongs to Amaranthaceae family, has been utilized in many traditional medicinal systems to treat hemostasis, eye and mouth inflammation, and gynecological diseases. The various physiological investigations on C. cristata have documented its antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal, and antihepatotoxic properties. During the research program aimed at isolating bioactive constituents from the medicinal plants, the aerial parts of C. cristata were extracted using 80% EtOH, then sequentially partitioned with n-hexane, CH 2 Cl 2 , and EtOAc. The CH 2 Cl 2 -soluble fraction demonstrated inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells, with an IC50 value of 24.7 μg/mL. The CH 2 Cl 2 -soluble fraction was subjected to a series of chromatographic techniques, such as Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, MPLC, and preparative HPLC. As a result, seven known norisoprenoids (1–7) were isolated, and the structures were determined through the analysis of spectroscopic data, especially 1D NMR, 2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS. Dehydrovomifoliol (2), 3-hydroxy-4,7-megastigmadien-9-one (6), and 9-hydroxy-4,7-megastigmadien-3-one (7) exhibited inhibitory effects on LPS-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages with IC50 values of 17.7–24.4 μM.

BACKGROUND: Skin lesions and pain are the most distinctive features of herpes zoster. Light-emitting diode (LED) therapy is an effective treatment known for its wound-healing effects. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the LED treatment affects wound healing and acute pain in acute herpes zoster ophthalmicus. METHODS: We recruited 28 consecutive Korean patients with acute herpes zoster ophthalmicus for the study. In the control group (group A), 14 subjects received oral famcyclovir. In the experimental group (group B), 14 subjects received oral famcyclovir and 830 nm LED phototherapy on days 0, 4, 7, and 10. In order to estimate the time for wound healing, we measured the duration from the vesicle formation to when the lesion crust fell off. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used for the estimation of pain on days 4, 7, 10, and 14. RESULTS: The mean time required for wound healing was 13.14+/-2.34 days in group B and 15.92+/-2.55 days in group A (p=0.006). From day 4, the mean VAS score showed a greater improvement in group B, compared with group A. A marginal but not statistically significant difference in the VAS scores was observed between the two groups (p=0.095). CONCLUSION: LED treatment for acute herpes zoster ophthalmicus leads to faster wound healing and a lower pain score.
Acute Pain ; Herpes Zoster ; Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus ; Humans ; Phototherapy ; Pilot Projects ; Skin ; Wound Healing

In this paper, the legend in Figure 3 (B) was given incorrectly.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the reliability of triple marker screening test in midtrimester pregnancy for fetal Down syndrome. METHODS: From October 1, 1996 to May 31, 1998 at Nowon Eulji Hospital, 3700 Pregnant women underwent serum tiple marker screening for Down syndrome during 15-20weeks of gestational age. The results of serum triple marker screenig tests for Down syndrome and the outcomes of pregnancies were retrospectively assesed. RESULTS: Sixty seven of 3700 cases(1.81%) were positive in screening test, and 3633(98.18%) cases were negative. Among 67 cases of positive screening test, 1 case(1.49%) was diagnosed as Down syndrome. Among 3633 cases of negative screening test, 4 cases(0.1%) were diagnosed as chromosomal abnormalies postnatally. Two of these 4 cases of chromosomal abnormalies were Down syndrome. CONCLUSION: With this results, sensitivity of triple marker screeing test for Down syndrome is very low as 33.3%. In order to increase the sensitivity, some compensatory adjustment is required in triple marker screening test.
Down Syndrome* ; Equidae ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Mass Screening* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second* ; Pregnant Women ; Retrospective Studies

This article was initially published on the Journal of Breast Cancer with a misspelled name of the first author. His name should be corrected as "Yoonseok Kim".

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine whether the combination of B-mode ultrasonography (BUS), acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography, and strain ratio (SR) provides better diagnostic performance of breast lesion differentiation than BUS alone. METHODS: ARFI elastography and SR evaluations were performed on patients with 157 breast lesions diagnosed by BUS from June to September 2013. BUS images were classified according to the Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System. ARFI elastography was performed using Virtual Touch(TM) tissue imaging (VTI) and Virtual Touch(TM) tissue quantification (VTQ). In VTI mode, we evaluated the color-mapped patterns of the breast lesion and surrounding tissue. The lesions were classified into five categories by elasticity score. In VTQ mode, each lesion was assessed using shear wave velocity (SWV) measurements. SR was calculated from the lesion and comparable lateral fatty tissue. We compared the diagnostic performance of BUS alone and the combination of BUS, ARFI elastography, and SR evaluations. RESULTS: Among the 157 lesions, 40 were malignant and 117 were benign. The mean elasticity score (3.7+/-1.0 vs. 1.6+/-0.8, p<0.01), SWV (4.23+/-1.09 m/sec vs. 2.22+/-0.88 m/sec, p<0.01), and SR (5.69+/-1.63 vs. 2.69+/-1.40, p<0.01) were significantly higher for malignant lesions than benign lesions. The results for BUS combined with ARFI elastography and SR values were 97.5% sensitivity, 92.3% specificity, 93.6% accuracy, a 79.6% positive predictive value (PPV), and a 99.1% negative predictive value. The combination of the 3 radiologic examinations yielded superior specificity, accuracy, and PPV compared to BUS alone (p<0.01 for each). CONCLUSION: ARFI elastography and SR evaluations showed significantly different mean values for benign and malignant lesions. Moreover, these two modalities complemented BUS and improved the diagnostic performance of breast lesion detection. Therefore, ARFI elastography and SR evaluations can be used as complementary modalities to make more accurate breast lesion diagnoses.
Acoustics* ; Adipose Tissue ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Complement System Proteins ; Diagnosis ; Elasticity ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques* ; Humans ; Information Systems ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography